Effective Marketing-The Road Map to Corporate Prosperity

Ability to market effectively a product is very crucial in any business success. No one can buy a commodity which he or she has no information about its existence. Just passing information to prospective consumers is not very helpful; the message should be passed using the right media, at the right time, directed to the right audience. The effectiveness of your marketing campaign is determined by how well the advertisements and promotions draw customers' attention. Going out to tell people about the product may not make any difference unless highly qualified people with convincing power do it. Therefore, consider effectiveness of your marketing before going out to talk to customers, otherwise, it may lead to bad public image of the company.

Bad public image arises from giving false messages and using the wrong symbols or figures for advertisement. I do not want to talk about Unilever’s Vaseline advertisement on billboards by Sheila because most people have spoken about it; let us look at Johnson Mwakazi’s Tecno Phantom. The public described it as the worst TV advertisement ever! I watched it myself; it was actually not the worst according to me. The advertisement passed the message using the right person and media; however, it was wrongly structured. Consider the Achluophobic people (those who fear darkness): it was unfair to them. Customers enjoy an entertaining advertisement: Mwakazi was talking to himself in the dark. Short but clear messages are effective: Johnson seemed to have prepared a 40-minute lesson plan, which might have been interrupted by an unknown intruder.   

Total quality managers in marketing should understand the Fundamentals of Branding, Marketing, and Advertising. If marketing managers do not comprehend the processes and composition of the above elements, they are bound to fail. Most advertisements in Kenya fail due to lack of an artistic eye, strong ego and visionary management. Successful advertisements understand the current and prospective customers of the business and tailor their message to satisfy their needs. This is where the idea of marketing segmentation comes in! Quality managers understand that different customers access the marketing information through diverse media. Use of integrated media can enable them access all customers. As usual, I repeat that Corporate Social Responsibility is one of the cheapest forms of marketing.

Businesses such as Wall-mart and Starbucks have grown to high heights, not because they have money, but because they understanding the deeper definition of advertisement. When I read the story of Sam Walton, I realize that he had a strong ego in advertising and was always impervious to failure. Starbucks prospers through ensuring that they have branches everywhere. In fact, branch presence is the second cheapest form of advertisement since it avails itself for people to see it. Customer resistance may arise at some points, or the company fails to access sufficient capital for branch operations; however, in the long-run customers will trust what they can easily access.

Poor marketing has slowed down the Kenyan economy. There are several businesses that people are not aware that they exist. I am not complaining, but I am talking of a small business recreational centre named Lake Side. The facility has lake-like dam that you cannot see its end leftwards. It is similar to a beach, and offers a wide variety of foods and drinks. There are children’s recreational facilities, surfing boats and fishing activities. This excellent recreational facility is located in a place called Toll along Thika Superhighway, a few miles from Ruiru town. I attended a public university along the same Superhighway. I never found a place where I could take my friends for a soft drink after classes during the four years. Yet, the place would have provided an excellent rendezvous for the same if the management had done proper advertisement. I went there on Wednesday 21^st august, 2013; there were no customers except a few attendants. I walked around the compound and thought that the facility is underutilised. Most people in the institutions and organisations around the area do not know of its existence. I confirm this because I just knew the facility in May 2013. This is after unsuccessfully looking for venues for university club parties and private recreation for more than four years.

This is just one example. I am sure you have searched for a computer accessory in the whole of the town, but you failed to acquire it if you did not know a specific provider. I am talking about quality managers committed to effective marketing for business success.